Gas turbine engines, such as turbofan gas turbine engines, typically include a core engine having a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. During operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and mixed with fuel in the combustor section for generating hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases flow through the turbine section which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and drive the fan section.
The core engine is generally surrounded by a nacelle assembly that is annularly disposed about the core engine. The nacelle assembly and the engine casing structure cooperate to assemble the gas turbine engine. Typically, an inlet lip assembly of the nacelle assembly is attached to an A-flange disposed about the fan section of the core engine. A fan containment case (“FCC”) is attached to an opposite side of the A-flange from the inlet lip assembly. The A-flange permits assembly/disassembly of the inlet lip assembly from the FCC. In addition, an engine electronic control is typically mounted aft of the fan containment case, such as on the fan case.
The current location of the split between the inlet lip assembly and the FCC creates laminar turbulence, and may negatively affect gas turbine engine efficiency and fuel consumption. Accordingly, improvements in the nacelle assembly are therefore needed in the art.